“Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses” (1Tim 6:12).
Your team leads late in the fourth quarter of a tight game. Your offense has the ball and must do everything possible to move the chains and get first downs. There’s just one problem. One very BIG problem. You’re facing one of the greatest Ds in football history. They’re agile, mobile, and hostile. They specialize in creating turnovers. As the running back, you won’t just have to fight for every inch but do everything in your power to hang onto the ball. They’re coming after you. They’re coming after it.
It’s going to be a painful gain, but it’s worth the fight.
You might think you’re watching one of those NFL Films highlight reels. You know the ones with a golden-throated narrator, a symphonic score, and super-slomo shots of spinning footballs. But this is also the scene near the end of Paul’s first letter to Timothy. The game is on the line. It’s been a seesaw struggle. After the apostle’s team got off to a hot start (Acts 19), the team of false teachers got the Big Mo on its side and got rolling big time. They took control with a combo of trick plays, cheap shots, and a demonic defense (1Tim 1:3-7; 4:1-3).
Just when it looked like the fat lady was warming up her vocal cords, the Ephesian squad makes a miraculous comeback. After Paul knocks out two of the opponents best players (1Tim 1:20), Tim takes over (1Tim 1:3). The apostle gives him the ball in crunch time. He must avoid the same mistakes made by the opposition and start a long, hard drive for the things of God (1Tim 6:11).
Paul calls a timeout and wants to talk it over with the young pastor about what is about to happen. “Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses” (v12). Tim’s totally gassed but he now has to gain some of the toughest yards of his career. And the defense is coming after the ball with everything they have.
It’s going to be a painful gain, but it’s worth the fight.
The apostle goes all Vince Lombardi and gives Pastor Tim a first century version of “When the going gets tough, the tough get going.” He tells his young protege, “Fight the good fight of the faith” (v12). He wants us to know the road ahead will be agonizing. Think I’m being a little melodramatic? Not according to the original language. Check out the two forms of the word “fight” we read in the ESV.
First he commands Tim to “fight” (Gr. agonizomai). You don’t have to be a freak in Greek to see the English word “agonize.” It means to struggle hard to the point of pain or expend all effort to win. Give it all you’ve got. Leave it all on the field. We’re talking ripped jersey and turf in the helmet stuff. In one of his letters to his friends in Corinth, Paul compares following Jesus to painful training of a long distance runner. “Every athlete exercises (Gr. agonizomai) self-control in all things. They do it receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable” (1Cor 9:25).
This isn’t a scrimmage. It’s no preseason game. This is going to be a “fight” (v12). This time Paul uses the noun agon. There it is again. This time it’s “agony.” The word describes a contest against powerful competition or an incredibly intense conflict. Ancient writers like Paul use it when talking about everything from a race to a game to a battle. The man from Tarsus reminds Thessalonian believers of the wild riots in their city when his team came “to declare to you the Gospel of God in the midst of much conflict (Gr. agon)” (1Th 2:2).
It was a painful gain, but totally worth the fight.
This fight is all about “faith” (v12). But we’re not talking about gritting my teeth and simply believing in myself. This is faith in Jesus. Faith in what He’s done that I could never dream of doing on my own. It’s not about the strength of my faith. Don’t get my wrong, I want my faith to be super strong. “S” on the chest strong. Faster than a speeding bullet strong. Able to leap tall buildings strong. More powerful than a locomotive strong. But Paul is talking placing our faith in One who is makes Superman look like 98-pound weakling.
There’s an all out assault on that faith. Paul tells Tim to “take hold of eternal life” (v12). Get both hands on what God is handing to you and do NOT let go! I constantly have to remind myself that eternal life isn’t something I have to wait for. Eternal life starts NOW! And because of that, the opposition is will do everything they can to pull it from your hands. They’ll talk trash about how you’re going to fumble. They’ll try to get in your head.
But remember, we’re actually trusting in what Jesus has already done for us. He lived the perfect life that we failed to live. He died the death on a cross for our sin that we should have died. He rose to a spectacular new life that we in no way deserve. Jesus trades His total goodness for our wretched badness (2Cor 5:21). That’s the only way we have a snowball’s chance of meeting God’s perfect standard (Rom 8:3-4). The writer of Hebrews encourages us to run hard and keep our eyes on our Hero who fought the ultimate fight on our behalf from start to finish. “Let us run with endurance the race (Gr. agon) that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the Founder and Perfecter of our faith” (Heb 12:1-2). That’s what we hang onto. That’s Whom we hang onto. You can be sure He’s never letting us out of His hands. He hasn’t lost one yet and it’s not happening here!
It’s going to be a painful gain, but it’s worth the fight.
Do you get the point that following Jesus isn’t for wimps? This is no flag football game at the family picnic. It’s not a lazy game of H-O-R-S-E in the driveway. We’re talking about a knock-down, drag-out slobberknocker. “Game of the Century” kinda stuff. Don’t buy the lie that faith in Jesus is rainbows, unicorns, and an endless supply of Skittles. It’s hard. VERY hard. I must put the crap which destroys me in the rearview mirror and put the hammer down toward the things of God which He uses to build me up (1Tim 6:11). It’s going to be a hard road, not a skip down the path. It’s going to be a fight. Agonizing at times.
Just before his own death, the apostle tells Tim how he’s played he’s emptied the tank for the cause of Christ. “I have fought (Gr. agonizomai) the good fight (Gr. agon), I have finished the race, I have kept the faith” (2Tim 4:7). He left it all on the field. Following Jesus was hard for the apostle. He gave it everything he had and to the finish line. He had no regrets. Why should we expect anything different? Don’t let our cushy, 21st Century, first world life fool you. Buckle your chinstrap.
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